Slender Shorts
by kairi's friend
Summary: A collection of one-shots set after the events of "Slender Blind." Featuring your favorite characters and more!


**A/N: Hey, guys! This is the first episode in a series of one-shots, all of them set after the events of "Slender Blind," unless stated otherwise. They mostly involve the characters from the other story, but you will meet a few new faces, so to speak. I hope you enjoy these one-shots! :)**

He doesn't know why he's in the middle of the forest at night. He doesn't know why he has a flashlight in his hand. All he knows is that he woke up here. He clicks on the flashlight and shines it around. All he sees are trees, dirt, grass, and some small rocks. Everything looks fine.

So why does he get the feeling that he's being watched?

Nothing is behind him when he glances over his shoulder, but to be safe, he moves forward. He walks straight forward, passing lots of trees, until he comes to a fence. _Great_, he thinks. He follows the fence to the left, and he notices it curves inward. _Am I in a circle?_

He sees a shape up ahead. Curious, he shines the flashlight beam towards it. It's two crossing walls. Something white and black is on one of them. He picks his way through the woods, and as he nears the cross walls, he sees the white and black thing is a page with stuff scrawled on it. Once he's close enough, he can make out the words: _Can't run._

Boom.

He jumps and turns around. There's something standing behind that tree there, but even when he shines the light that way, it's too dark to tell who it is. His heart pounds, and he grabs the page before running away. Honestly, he doesn't know why he took the page, but maybe it will come in handy. Somehow. If he needs to take notes or make an origami hat. Sigh. The paper's useless.

Boom.

He spots a tunnel next and darts into it, coming to a stop in the middle. Surprisingly, he's not out of breath, but the flashlight beam reveals another one of those pages. This time, it has a crude drawing of him and the words: _Don't look, or it takes you_.

BOOM.

It's louder this time. He nearly drops the flashlight as he shines it towards one end of the tunnel. Someone's there, dressed all in black and with blood red eyes. He runs away, but it seems the dark figure's catching up to him, getting closer every time he finds a page. He finds them in really bizarre places: an empty bathroom with an overturned wooden chair, rusted tankers, a blue truck, a scary tree, a red silo, and large rocks. The pages he finds don't make any more sense than the first two, but they still send chills through him: a sketch of him in a forest along with _Follows_; another sketch of him in the forest; _Help me_; _Always watches, No eyes_; a disturbing one of him surrounded by a dozen _No_s; and the very last one, the one on the large rocks, says _Leave me alone_.

BOOM!

He turns around - and barely stifles a scream at the sight of the dark figure standing a few feet away. Its eyes glow red as it raises a gloved hand, a dagger gleaming steely gray...

"Aaahhhhhhhhh!" James screams, shooting up from the bed. He pants as he gazes around the cabin. No trees, no pages, no killer.

Margareta stirs next to him. "James, what's wrong?" she asks drowsily.

He rubs his face with his hand. "N-Nothing. Just go back to sleep." He lies back down, still a little shaky, and rolls onto his side facing the wall. He tugs the sheets tighter around him.

A hand stretches over him and presses against his cheek until he rolls back over to look at Margareta. "James, I know you. Something is wrong. Will you tell me?" she adds when he stays silent. She rubs his cheek with her thumb.

James lifts a hand to pry hers from his face. "That's very kind of you, but..." Images from his nightmare make him freeze in fear and unable to finish his thought.

Margareta pushes the covers off of her and slides out of the bed. "How about we go for a midnight walk?" Once they change out of their pajamas and back into their regular clothes, they leave the cabin and walk hand-in-hand down the well-worn path to the pond. Once they reach the silvery circle, Margareta leans into him and says, "Tell me what's bothering you."

He sighs. He knows she can be very stubborn. He keeps his gaze on the moonlit pond. "I had a dream I was being hunted by the serial killer and had to find eight pages." There is silence for a while, and he welcomes that.

An arm wraps around him and hugs him tight to Margareta. "I'm sorry," she says softly. "The serial killer really made a mess of things, huh?"

"Yeah." It has been a year since they confronted the Black Circle cult leader in the burning forest. Their human friends still check in with them, the Slender clans still keep in touch with one another...but James can't let go of what almost happened a year ago. All because of him.

Margareta must have read his mind, because she says, "James, you need to let him go. It's not your fault he killed people and blamed it on you. He just wanted to ruin your life-" she looks up at him, "-and if you keep letting him get to you, then he's won."

James sighs and stares at the ground. "I know. It's just...hard." He shudders. "That dream was so real."

She turns his head so she can kiss him. "It's nothing more than a bad dream," she says.

He wishes he had a mouth, so he could stretch it taut with the biggest smile ever. "I love you," he says.

"I love you, too." She rests her head on his chest, and he gently strokes her head. They stay like that for a couple minutes, the moonlight shining off of their pale skin. "So, my lovely new husband," Margareta says, pulling back enough to look up at him, "are you ready to go back to bed?"

"Of course." He rubs her hand with his thumb as they walk back to the cabin the Slender Four was nice enough to rent for them for their honeymoon. Being with his new wife and strolling through the night woods makes him feel serene. Back in the cabin, they change into pajamas and slide into bed. She falls asleep first. He strokes her cheek once and whispers, "Good night." He curls up next to her, a hand on her shoulder. Everything is alright now.

But what is that steely gray in the window?


End file.
